Bible Truth for Today & Christian Counseling for the Soul

Tag Archives: dead

“When one asked the salesman what he was selling, he said, “Life insurance.”

“That’s not life, but death insurance.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have to die to win.”

“Not always. You get your money back with big interest in 10 or 20 years if you live, but if you die your family is protected for a number of years.”

“Fine. The Bible says, ‘But if any provide not for his own, specially for those of his own house, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel, but it’s more important to carry life insurance.”

“Say, what are you selling?”

“Life insurance. Eternal life. Nothing to pay, and you begin to get big dividends immediately, of peace, joy, contentment, and an understanding of God’s plan for your life.”” (-Knights)

What kind of insurance do you have? Jesus came to earth to give something better than death or life “insurance.” He came to earth to purchase eternal life. Jesus paid the full price that our sin – death. He died in my place. He died for my sin. He died in your place. He died for your sin. He shed His blood for our sin. Theologians call this Substitutionary Atonement.

Romans 5:8 teaches, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus demonstrated or proved His love for us with his work and action on the cross. He did not just say “I love you.” He demonstrated love when He laid down His life for us. No matter how BIG or little you perceive your sin to be, Jesus still loves you! None of us are worthy, but He loves us anyway.

Then He rose from the dead. The phrase: “Rose Again” in 1 Corinthians 15:4 indicates that while He was previously dead, He came back to life, and continues to be alive!” What an incredible truth! Jesus continues to be alive today.

As I prepared for Easter Sunday preaching, I searched out all the leaders of the worlds major religions. Here is what I found:

“Buddhism. The Buddha’s body was cremated in Kushinagar, India and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. Ramabhar Stupa in Kushinagar was built over a portion of the Buddha’s ashes on the spot where he was cremated by the ancient Malla people. The Temple of the Tooth or Dalada Maligawa in Sri Lanka is the place where the right tooth relic of Buddha is kept at present.

Christian Science. Mary Baker Eddy is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States.

Confucianism. The grave of Confucius, founder of Confucianism, is in his home town of Qufu, Shandong Province, China. The grave of Confucius is located in a large cemetery where more than 100,000 of his descendants are also buried.

Islam. According to early Muslim sources, Muhammad is buried in the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (“Mosque of the Prophet”) in the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia. The tomb of Muhammad lies within the confines of what used to be his wife Aisha’s and his house. During his lifetime it adjoined the mosque, which was expanded during the reign of Caliph al-Walid I to include his tomb.

Scientology. Upon his death, L. Ron Hubbard was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.” (Wikipedia)

Christianity: Go to the Garden Tomb at Jerusalem. There are no bones, no ashes – nothing! Jesus walked out of that stone tomb alive! Jesus is alive today.

Would you believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus? This is called the Gospel. Jesus is alive and calling to you for a response. Will you accept the forgiveness of sins and receive eternal life from Jesus? He loves you. Believe in Him today.

“Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” John 20:3-9

Peter and John are stoked. They are amazed at what Mary Magdalene has just told them about the tomb being empty. It had been a fast three days earlier that everyone saw Joseph of Arimathea wrap the body of Jesus and lay it in a brand-new tomb.

Peter and John run. They run to verify the amazing story of the resurrection. After running to ensure the validity of the empty tomb, verse 8 says: “he saw, and believed.” What John saw and believed was that Jesus was gone, the resurrection took place, just as He had said.

Many Christians would say they “believe.” Our issue today is that we take that “belief” for granted. Since the resurrection is life changing, eternity changing, and is the single most monumental moment in history, you would think we would have a higher regard for Jesus and the salvation He purchased for us on the Cross. This moment of victory is unparalleled by anything else in life. Anything.

Even while we “believe” many of us are not as enthusiastic about the Cross, the Resurrection, and of Jesus as we ought to be. How many Christians will make it to Easter Sunday on time? How many will be late? How many will show up at all? How many will have an inner excitement visible on the outside with facial expressions of peace, joy, and satisfaction in Jesus? We tend to “run” everywhere else: “Run” to the store. “Run” to the Doctor or to the school event. We “run” to sporting events and more!

We should run to the empty tomb Easter Sunday and every Sunday. The Christian church celebrates the resurrected Lord Jesus every Sunday. That is why the old “Sabbath Day” of worship was moved to Sunday. Because Jesus rose on the first day of the week. We should congregate with other Christians to worship the resurrected Lord. We should be quick to priorities celebrating our faithful God and praising His Son for what He did on the Cross and in the Tomb for us.

We may not need to physically run to church, but we should have the same drive and energetic spirit to stop everything else to praise the Lord. Go to church this Sunday with the same emotions of jubilation and amazement that Peter and John had that very first resurrection day!